A middle-school student drowned and four others died trying to save him in Dongjiang River in Huizhou on May 11, Nandu Daily reports. The students from Luoyang No. 1 Middle School were enjoying a barbecue on the river’s shore in Boluo County when tragedy struck.

The rescue operation

At around 8 a.m., eight classmates set off for their picnic spot on the bank of the river just off Binjiang Road. It took an hour to get their barbecue lit and it was 11 a.m. by the time they’d finished eating.

Afterwards, four of them, Su, Dan, Hu and Lin, went to play in the water. When Su started to struggle to stay afloat, he cried for help and the other three dove in after him. Another, Hua, heard their cries for help and went in after them.

The ones still at the shore called 110 and the subsequent rescue mission involved 70 people, including all of the emergency service resources that the county had. Su’s body was found on the riverbed at 7:35 p.m. on the night of the 11th and the others were found just over two hours later.

An investigation into exactly what happened is underway. Warning signs are to be erected in the area and local schools are encouraged to organize activities such as swimming lessons and first aid training to prevent similar accidents from happening again.